Suspect caught in murder of Mattituck horse trainer

U.S. Marshals and Suffolk County police have arrested a man wanted for questioning in the murder of a Mattituck horse trainer, who was shot in his East Setauket home last month.

Brett Knight, 45, was taken into custody Wednesday after he was found inside a house in Seymour, Tenn. by federal agents and the Sevier County Special Operations Response Team, according to a statement released by the marshals.

He is scheduled to appear in First District Court in Central Islip on a second-degree murder charge for the Sept. 24 killing of 50-year-old Ross Reisner, according to online court records.

Mr. Reisner was shot in the chest by someone outside his house while he was inside his home on Upper Sheep Pasture Road just after 8 p.m., police said. Mr. Reisner’s partner, Kevin Murray, was also inside the house at the time of the shooting and was wounded in the arm.

Det. Lt. Jack Fitzpatrick, commanding officer of the Suffolk County police homicide squad, said at a press conference last month that Mr. Reisner appeared to be targeted by someone, but could not provide a possible motive.

Mr. Reisner had worked in the horse training community for more than 25 years, coworkers at Maple Lane Farm on Cox Neck Road in Mattituck said last month.

Authorities say Mr. Knight had purchased a motorcycle after the shooting and was rumored to be traveling “throughout the country,” setting off a nationwide manhunt. Police considered Knight to be “armed, volatile, and extremely dangerous,” according to the statement.

Police at the scene — including detectives from the Suffolk County homicide squad — recovered two handguns from the house, authorities said.

No one was injured in the arrest.

“We are very glad of the outcome of this investigation,” said Jimmy Fowler, U.S. Marshal for the Eastern District of Tennessee. “The Marshals Service and the New York detectives were in constant communication throughout this long investigation and all precautions were taken in the apprehension.”